


Cherry Kisses and Dark Magic

by Rosetta



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Hell yeah I'm hungry, M/M, Patisseries and boulangerie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 06:28:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9708014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosetta/pseuds/Rosetta
Summary: I am a Devil's Food Cake that enthralls men.Yuuri Katsuki is the young maître pâtissier of Yutopia Cakes and Pastries, and 27-years old famous model and food blogger Victor Nikiforov is unsure which one is sweeter - the pastries, or the hands that make them. A patisserie and boulangerie AU for valentine's day because i'm hella cliched.





	1. On the technicalities of a union

**Author's Note:**

> screeches THIS SERIES IS KILLING ME OK ANYway happy valentine to those who celebrate and happy OTP awareness day too for those who are like me

"I hope you enjoy yourselves tonight!" he said with a wink to the blushing couple. "The cake should last well for a good while but I suggest a few hours in the fridge for a good measure. Take it out an hour before eating and it should be just perfect."

"Thanks." the lady whose name was Anya- Yuuri knew because the cake order was made in her name - didn't seem to be completely interested in Yuuri's advices, but at least her boyfriend did pick the cake box with due care.

"You have anyone to spend the day with at all today?" the man asked as he paid for the cake, and Yuuri paused for a moment, before shaking his head. "I see. Thought you'd be busy."

"The only thing I'm busy with tonight will be preparing pastry sheets and cake orders, unfortunately." Yuuri laughed pitifully at himself. "But thanks for asking."

He waved at the two lovebirds as they left with their cake. An angel's food cake base with some custom white chocolate work on top - it wasn't an entirely good match for the pair, but he wasn't one to comment, was it?

"Good work today, Yuuri-kun." Yuuko patted him on the back before she moved to clean the display counter. "That last cake was gorgeous!"

"I hope they agree with you," Yuuri sighed as he pulled out his phone. It had been vibrating endlessly in his pocket in the last hour or so, but working with Anya's custom decoration had prevented him from taking a look. "Whoa..."

"What is it?"

"Apparently we're trending on three platforms for whatever reason."

He showed his screen to Yuuko, who then hurriedly went to check her own phone. "Huh," she mused. "Looks like someone high profile linked to our p-"

She froze.

"Yuu-chan?"

Before Yuuri managed to even ask what happened, Yuuko let out a banshee-class shriek and violently shook Yuuri as she incoherently babbled something - somehow Yuuri could pick out 'my blessed fangirl life' and 'i can die in peace now'.

 

* * *

 

It took exactly three minutes and ten seconds until Yuuko calmed down enough for Yuuri to have a conversation with her once more.

"Victor Nikiforov featured us."

They both had their phones in their hands, both opening to the same page.

In elegant cursives, STAMMI VICINO decorated the masthead of the blog, with a stylized blurred photograph of the blog writer as its background. Scrolling down through the responsive page would show a short profile ("VIKTOR NIKIFOROV. RU. 27. Model, former athlete, and happily self-indulgent food hunter. Inquiries to RITTBERGER Pro.") and a professional profile picture that Yuuri recognized as one of Victor's photograph from SKATRA's 2017 Volume 2 interview with the model and former skater. Scrolling even lower would then show a neat list of Victor's most recent blog entries. The top entry, the most recent one, was titled 'Sweet life", and true to Yuuko's words, it was apparently talking about a particular Yutopia Cakes and Patisserie.

The more Yuuri read through the blog entry, the more he couldn't believe the day was real. Victor was highly praising their cakes and pastries, citing an exceptional balance of taste and their beautiful forms. He was especially expressing his fondness of one of the shop's unique special - one of Yuuri's creation to honour his homeland and a personal favourite of his: the triple matcha cheesecake. It was both surprising and endearing to Yuuri, because the triple matcha menu was never particularly popular with his customers before - he thought it was an American thing.

 _"All Yutopia recipes I tried so far had always carried this fine balance between sweet and mild, a pleasant item that never overburdens the palate."_ Yuuko recited the entry with a nervous smile. _"But one particular item that I especially found memorable was a custom made for one of my colleague's birthday, and the first of Yutopia's creation that i tasted. It was a liquor-laced cake that was incredibly strong, but you somehow just can't get bored of it! It was explosive, intoxicating and hypnotizing all at once, from the taste down to its shape - everyone was impressed with how much they could come up with even with a vague instruction like 'make it boozy'!"_

"Oh, I remember that one. It was the Midori and Vodka cake for Chris' 24th." Yuuri smiled as he remembered the particular cake. Chris had been a friend that he never really knew how he met, and it wasn't the first order he ever had from the particularly sultry man, so Yuuri didn't hesitate when he gave the cake an over-the-top decoration...

He still blushed everytime he thought about that cake.

"I remember that one too." Takeshi commented as he walked out from the back. "Wasn't it that one where I asked if you were planning on killing them with alcohol poisoning?"

"I didn't put enough alcohol to kill a man in it, Takeshi-kun..."

"You'd be surprised." the man shrugged before he greeted his wife with a hug. Yuuri couldn't help but smile at the two. "Sorry for leaving you to watch the kids tonight by the way."

"Oh, no," Yuuri laughed and waved it off. "It's not like I have a date night so might as well, no? You two have fun. You deserve it."

 

* * *

 

Handling the triplets was surprisingly easy for Yuuri. Axel, Lutz and Loop were initially like the devil's incarnates when Yuuri first met them, but they were apparently fellow Victor fans like Yuuri, so it didn't take long until Yuuri found the surefire method to keep them in their place.

He plopped on the sofa next to Loop after everyone had a bowl of chips in hand. His laptop was open next to him, streaming one of Victor's old skating program to the only TV in the apartment room. But as the night went on, he eventually found himself distracted by reading (and re-reading) Stammi Vicino's review on his shop. Even after the triplets fell asleep and the playlist long over, leaving the TV idle with a muted buzz, Yuuri still mulled over a particular line in the blog entry.

 _"I can't wait to see the face behind these beautiful delights!_ "

He can't be...

Right?

Yuuri stared emptily at his phone screen. The incredibly pretty shot of his triple matcha cheesecake stared back at him, as if daring him to-

To what?

He stared again.

He stood up. The clock showed seventeen to ten.

He went into the kitchen.

 

* * *

 

The Nishigori pair came to pick their children up a little before three, and Yuuri told them to pick something.

Or five.

"What were you thinking about?" was Yuuko's question when she saw Yuuri's entire apartment filled with a variety of cakes and pastries.

There were at least four types of shortcrust pies alone, a whole assorted fruit millefeule cake, an entire selection of soft and crunchy biscuits, two bundts, a pandan chiffon and a Japanese cheesecake. There were also a selection of mini fruit pies and meat pies scattered on the dining table and on the coffee table in front of the TV, not to mention a dozen candy sticks sitting in the fridge.

The entire apartment smelled like a pastry festival.

"Nothing." Yuuri said.

Yuuko shook her head.

"I'm still too amazed at the fact you somehow managed to make all these with that lousy kitchen of yours, so I'm not going to ask any further." she said as she picked Axel up. Takeshi picked the other two, and his face was still frozen in confusion and amazement at the sight and smell of the apartment room. "But I know you only go like this when something's in your mind."

"I don't think when I bake."

"Exactly. I'm taking the candy sticks and the chiffon by the way. "

 

* * *

 

When Yuuri checked his online orders the next day, there were at least thirty new orders, and at least half was asking for "that liquor cake", and a good chunk of the other half for the matcha cheesecake.

While the matcha cake wasn't too hard to make, Yuuri contemplated contacting the liquor cake buyers one by one to tell them exactly what the cake was made of. He recalled Takeshi's grim comment on the amount of alcohol in the infamous cake, and sighed as he put a mental note to call or mail them one by one later. It wouldn't do his reputation well if someone did die from one of his...creations, after all.

He was just going to start making some calls to get some extra help when the front door opened with a chime. He was going to say his standard greeting, but his eyes lit up when he saw a familiar face approaching the counter.

"Chris!"

"Hello, mon cherie." the blond winked and leaned on the counter. "How's my favourite sweet boy this fine morning?"

"Don't tease me like that, Chris." Yuuri could feel his cheeks slightly reddening as he frowned, much to Chris' amusement. "Happy birthday, by the way. Did you like your cake yesterday?"

"It was a beautiful piece of work, darling. Although I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of kick in it."

"Your order specifically said  _no booze_ this year so I complied. I believe your boyfriend is to thank for that."

Yuuri didn't hear a second chime as he laughed at Chris' exaggerated moan of disappointment.

"You're cold, love. One wouldn't guess you're this cold if they only see you when you're in the kitchen."

"That's why I don't let just any people get into my kitchen"

"Thousands of people saw you, though."

Yuuri blinked. Chris took out his phone and fiddled with it for a moment before he shoved it to Yuuri's face. It was his instagram.

Yuuri half-expected it to be the shop's account, but instead he found his personal account, the one he hadn't updated for months. Except, the photo listed under his name was just posted last night, and it was a rare shot of him with his hair pushed back and his glasses off his face. The lighting was not too bright, but bright enough to show the beads of sweat on his face as he rolled a pastry sheet, and his expression was focused and burning with a silent intensity, his mouth parting slightly and eyes squinting from the lack of corrective lenses.

If Yuuri wasn't Yuuri he'd find it quite...enchanting.

A bit sexy maybe.

"I'd let you roll _me_ if you look at me with that face."

Yuuri almost blushed.

"I'd call your boyfriend and report you for an attempt of flirting but I don't have his number." Yuuri muttered to Chris as he scratched his head. "But who could've taken the photo...?"

"Dunno, but I can tell you that whoever did, you should thank them, really. My friend here got so turned on he just  _have_ to come visit."

"I'm sorry?"

It was at this point that another man came up to the counter, and when Yuuri saw who he was, his jaws dropped and he almost fell down himself. The parted silver bangs and the freezing cerulean eyes were unmistakeable.

" _Privyet_. Yuri, was it?"

Victor Nikiforov was in the house.

 

* * *

 

"So Yuuri, how did you end up making cakes for a living?"

Yuuri didn't know how it got there, but he found himself sitting together with Chris and Victor in a cafe not far from the shop. It surprised Victor when Yuuri ordered a long black - apparently he thought he'd have a sweet tooth.

A common misconception, he assured him.

"I don't know, actually." Yuuri put his fingers around his cup, letting the heat seep through and thaw his slightly cold hands. "I think I've always liked being in the kitchen. Feels like home. Didn't always feel like it though, especially in Fauchon."

"You worked at Fauchon?"

"I was one of their thirty holiday workers." Yuuri smiled at the surprise in Victor's face. "I think they liked my consistency and my manners, so they kept me until I resigned two years later."

Victor nodded as he listened, while Chris simply smiled. Yuuri told him all these at some point, but it was fun to see Victor being surprised at something for once.

"Why did you resign?"

"Internal scuffles. The tension was becoming too high for my liking so I parted ways before I get involved." he sighed. "I also got to taste working in one of Pierre Herme's store for a year, but I quit when I moved to Detroit. I think my supervisor cried when I submitted my letter."

"Fauchon, then Herme, you have a surprisingly amazing CV, don't you?"

Yuuri blushed at Victor's comment. "Not as amazing as you." he muttered, looking down at his black coffee. He realized after he said it that perhaps he was degrading himself comparing their two very different fields like that, but he shook the thought away.

"What's your favourite?"

"Huh?"

Yuuri looked up from his coffee and his eyes met Victor's curious gaze.

"Cakes, pastries. Chocolate, maybe, you did work at Herme's after all." Victor stated. "What's your favourite?"

Yuuri hummed as he thought. "Well, most of my repeat customers would know I really like my matcha cheesecake, but I guess Devil's Food takes the crown." he smiled. "I can't really eat too much of it though. Too much chocolate and sugar in one dish."

"Hence why it deserves the name Devil's Food, I suppose." Victor laughed, and Yuuri could actually feel a chill up his spine just from hearing the man laugh. "I like chocolate too, just so you know."

"You never mentioned that in any of your interviews."

"My manager said it'd be bad for my health if it ever comes out that I like sweet stuff," again, he laughed, and Yuuri realized he just couldn't have enough of that very loose, almost stupid grin that he very rarely showed in magazine shoots. "It's surprising that you noticed though."

"Yuuri here probably collects all magazines that has your photo in it." Chris quipped in, grinning widely as Yuuri broke into a nervous mess. "He's a big,  _big_ fan of yours, you see. Talks to me about you all the time."

"Chris!"

"Oh? That's very encouraging."

"I know right!"

"I-I-I have like fifteen orders to cook and another fifteen to confirm so _if you'd excuse me_!"

The two men simply watched with a wide grin on their face as they watched the  _boulanger_ stomp away, after he slammed three dollar bills on the table.

 

* * *

 

"Should we tell him his coffee was five dollars?"

Victor tapped his chin as he watched the Yutopia from his seat.

" _Nah_."

 

* * *

 

"I'm just saying, you probably would like to know that the liquor cake contains a high amount of midori and vodka in it, so I just want to confirm that you still want the order to come through. Yes? More vodka? Oh my go- I mean, a-alright then. It should be ready for pick up by five tomorrow, or would you like it delivered? Pick up? What name would you like it to be under...Feltsman? Alright ma'am, thank you for your order!"

Yuuri hung up on the tenth caller and struck her name from the "midori-vodka cake" order list. Out of the ten he had called, three cancelled when they knew exactly how much alcohol was involved in making the cake, five simply requested for a downsize, and the remaining two were apparently confident enough of their tolerance and went with the original order. Add the fifteen orders for the matcha cheesecake, and if there had only been Yuuri, Yuuko and Minami-kun in the store like usual, frankly Yuuri wouldn't know how to get through the day in one piece, not to mention new orders were  _still_ flooding in. He even had to refuse some orders because they were literally  _swamped._

"Does that mean we have seven murder cake orders so far, Yuuri?"

"Five small and two large, and don't call it that, Phichit. It makes me feel like an awful person for even coming up with the  _concept_."

Phichit grinned and tipped his hat at Yuuri before he disappeared back into the kitchen. Yuuri sighed and began tapping in the eleventh number. He groaned when a fifty-fourth message came into the system,  _yet another one_ asking for the murder cake. Amazing what a quick mention in a high-profile blog could do to a growing business, he mused, as he copy-pasted an apology note to the mail. Yuuko noticed the exasperation on his face as she walked by to take a cake box. "Yet another order?"

"Yeah..."

"Do you think it's because we're actually the first  _patisserie_ featured in Stammi Vicino?"

"Maybe- wait, we _are?_ "

"Yeah!" Yuuko's eyes was shining with excitement. "You didn't know? I thought you'd know since you're like the biggest Victor fanboy in the shop - or in the city, maybe, even."

"I did-oh my god, we  _are_ the first patisserie featured in Stammi Vicino, aren't we." He  _had_ read all the entries in Stammi Vicino, even the ones that was posted in 2013, and Yuuko was right. Victor had featured some major dessert bars in his snippets section, but a full-size, lengthy review that outlined no less than five of his favourites into great details? He'd done that for some six-stars steak houses and a number of michelin starred restaurants all over the world, but a small shop at the edge of Detroit city, and a  _patisserie_ on top of that was unexpected. Now that Yuuri was thinking from an unbiased, unsurprised point of view, he'd realize just how much impact  _Victor singing praises to a cake and pastry shop_ would bring. Given his seven-digits subscriber number, fifty six orders suddenly sounded small.

Yuuri shuddered.

"Yuuri?" Yuuko waved her hand in front of Yuuri's eyes, snapping the young man back into reality. "Are you okay?"

"I..."

Even Phichit and Minami walked out from the kitchen to take a look at Yuuri, who was frozen in a delayed shock in front of the counter.

The more Yuuri thought about it the more he realized just how...amazing the day had been. From Victor's surprise review on his shop, to Chris actually bringing the man himself to the shop, to their short talk over coffee, and now the realization that Victor must have thought  _very highly_ of his work to even feature it on the blog. Come to think about it, he didn't even ask Victor what  _his_ favourite was-no, wait, he had blatantly named the Matcha cheesecake as his favourite in the blog, and it made sense, given the cake's not to sweet taste. Wait,  _did he_ mention that the matcha cake was his favourite? No?

"Yuuri you're sweating bullets, man. Chill." Phichit bumped him on the side and he yelped as his reverie was broken. "R-right! Right..."

His phone beeped, telling him that a fifty-seventh order just arrived. He was going to yet again copy-paste an apology note, but Chris' name on the sender line made him pause.

 

_Yuuri, I know you're busy with your cake orders, but think you can slip just one more order for the day? I promise it's not the cheesecake or the murder cake. I'll also pay for the rush order._

 

 _How do you know we call that thing the murder cake_ _!?_ Yuuri thought, but he didn't press for an answer. Instead, he typed in a shorter, more to the point reply to the man.

 

_What do you have in mind?_

 

The reply didn't come in straightaway, so Yuuri continued calling the remaining first batch buyers to confirm their order for a while. It was ten minutes later that Chris reply came in.

 

_You make Devil's Food at all?_

 

Huh.

Yuuri's eyebrows rose up. While Yutopia does offer cakes for custom orders, so far the only cakes that did make it to the standard menu were the more common, easier-to-make items like cheesecakes and chiffons. Devil's Food in particular never made it to the front menu because Yuuri had always found it rather frustrating to make. Not because it was hard, but rather because he never seemed to be able to replicate his mother's version, which was always at least ten times heavier, more robust and just  _more_ than his measly attempts. Some curious souls had placed a Devil's Food order with him in the past, but the lack of repeat orders had worried him. The same worry was tempting him to return Chris' request with a no.

 

_Victor wants to see your take on it._

 

He didn't even realize he replied in all capitals.

 

* * *

 

By the time the clock showed six, they somehow finished  _all_ orders for the day.

Yuuri half lamented the fact he couldn't individually decorate all the cakes ("You'd kill yourself, Yuuri. Please don't." "BUT MY BLOOD IS BOILING AT HOW PLAIN THEY LOOK-" "Yuuri stop or I'll tell Victor you have a cutout collection of his magazine photos in your room." "Phichit-sama spare me please"), but the vision of hopeful buyers looking forward to try the  _Christarte_  (He had to name the cake with a homage to Chris - it was the man who made the cake exist in the first place after all) did make him excited for the next day, when they will be coming to pick up their orders if they didn't ask for it to be delivered. He messaged Chris, apologizing and asking if it would be okay if he brought the Devil's Food cake to his place a bit later because he was just going to start making it.

"Yuuri?"

He almost dropped his phone into the mixing bowl.

"V-Victor? But what-how are you here?"

Victor looked at the door to the shop front, then back at Yuuri. "Um, I came just when the others were leaving and asked if you were still in, and they told me to just go straight into the kitchen." He paused and stared blankly at Yuuri for a while. "Um, should I leave or-"

"Oh, no, no-you can stay."

Yuuri could hear Chris' voice in the back of his mind. He ignored it.

Victor eventually settled to stand at the corner of the room and watched as Yuuri began moving. The oven was already pre-heating, and Yuuri was sifting flour, baking soda, and salt. He let the desktop mixer beat some sugar and and butter before moving to take a bowl of what Victor recognized as melted chocolate, which he then dumped into the mixer along with some eggs and vanilla extract. Victor continued watching with a strange fixation as Yuuri moved to the fridge, taking out a pitcher of something that looked like runny custard.

"What's that?"

"Buttermilk," Yuuri answered without turning his face away from the mixer. "It may look a little unlike the buttermilk you see in shops though, we make our own buttermilk."

"I see."

There was a hint of disappointment in Victor's face, but he continued watching Yuuri without another word. The  _boulanger_ added the flour mixture to the mixer bowl slowly, alternating between the flour and the buttermilk. He also added a bowl of what looked like cream cheese, but Victor didn't ask. Eventually he took the bowl off the mixer and tipped it into a lined pan, making sure to smooth the top before he slid it into the oven. When Victor thought Yuuri was going to stop, he then continued with sifting some sugar and cocoa powder, before mixing it with butter, vanilla and cream.

The only noise that filled the room was the whirring noise from the heavy-duty mixer that was probably a little bit overpowered for a single cake portion.

 

* * *

 

Amidst the noise, Victor's gazed lingered at Yuuri's expression as he watched the oven.

True to Chris' words, Yuuri was like an entirely different person when he was working. True, Victor had seen the photo- _photos_ on instagram, and he certainly did find the boy surprisingly attractive without his glasses and with his hair all pushed back. But in person, Victor felt an intensity that he didn't feel when he looked at the photo. He could almost hear Yuuri's breathing over the noise of the mixer simply from the way his shoulder moved subtly up and down, and the rusty red in his eyes that shone under the slightly dim lighting of the room was mesmerising him, inviting him to come closer even without them directed at him.

Victor gulped.

And took the bait.

He didn't even realize he was walking towards Yuuri until he found himself standing behind the younger man, the  _boulanger_ turning at him with a questioning look.

"C-can I help you, Victor?"

Victor blinked.

He didn't even realize that at some point the mixer had stopped moving, leaving only the subtle ticking from the oven accompanying the two.

 

 

Eventually Victor sighed.

"Actually, Yuuri, well, today wasn't the first time we met."

Victor held his breath.

 

"Eh?"

 

Was Yuuri's response.

 

Victor scratched his neck and coughed. "You, um, remember when you delivered Chris' cake on his birthday, two years ago?"

"Yes, I do," Yuuri answered, but then paused for a bit afterwards. "...actually I don't really try to think back to that day. I believe I was spectacularly drunk then." There was another pause, longer than the previous one, and Victor's eyebrows scrunched in worry as he watched Yuuri's expression change from confusion to realization, to horror. "Oh no. Were you there?"

"I was."

 _"Oh no_."

Victor frowned when he realized Yuuri was slowly descending into panic. "Yuuri, Yuuri-um, if it makes it any better for you, I didn't-I  _don't_ mind."

"What do you mean you didn't mind- oh my  _god Victor what did I do?_ "

Victor winced when Yuuri stared at him with pure horror in his eyes.

"Victor?"

"Yuuri...you, um. You kissed me."

 

* * *

 

 

"I _what_?"

 

 

* * *

 

"Like I said though, I-I didn't mind. I still don't mind."

His attempts on calming Yuuri down was barely having any effects on the boy, who was leaning on the oven door murmuring  _what kind of mistakes have I done in my life oh dear kami-sama please spare me_ , sliding back into Japanese as he went unresponsive to Victor's words. Victor realized that at this point, it would take more than words to snap the man out from his little inner monologue. But what? He could try shaking him, like Chris would when his worrywart boyfriend lapsed into his #triggered mode. But would that do Yuuri Katsuki well?

Victor was an idiot.

"Should I just kiss you back?"

Yuuri didn't answer.

 

Victor was an idiot.

So he did what he said he would.

 

 

"Yuuri, have you seen a bag of hamster feed sitting ar-"

 

* * *

 

An explanation was due.

"So, what did I miss up to the point where I found Victor Hella Nihiliforov kissing our maitre patissier on the oven?"

"I can explain."

"Chris, no. I want to hear it from the man himself."

"You two know each other?"

So that's how  _murder cake™_ came out.

Phichit shrugged at Yuuri. "Yeah, we played a game together at some point before he signed with Rittberger. Then he never had the time to hang out anymore, this asshole." he jokingly jabbed Chris with his elbow, but his face turned stern again when he looked at Victor. "I demand explanations."

"He was panicking."

"Why was he panicking?"

"I told him he kissed me."

"I'm sorry what."

"It was a party." Chris interjected. "He came with the cake. I asked him to stay for the night. Everyone got drunk. He kissed Victor when they danced. I think he was so blackout drunk he just forgets about everything. But basically Victor had been stalking him ever since."

"Even longer, actually." there was a slightly meek grin on Victor's face that was almost uncharacteristic of the man. "I've been following him since his youtube days."

Phichit hmm'd.

"But he stopped doing videos when he moved to Detro-you've been stalking him since he was at Herme's?"

"Fauchon's."

"You  _knew_ I worked at Fauchon?"

"Sorry, I know it's almost like being lied at," Victor grimaced upon seeing Yuuri's obvious shock. "You were doing a live demo in Madam Baranovskaya's Paris gala when I first saw you. I still remember what you made back then, too."

"Madam Baranovskaya's?" Yuuri repeated in a mumble. "The cherry pie?"

"The pie. I never knew I could like sweets before that." Victor paused. "But getting back on track, our first actual interaction was at Chris' party indeed. You kept to yourself most of the time, but..."

"This is a little too much for me to accept in one go." Yuuri muttered. He rose from his chair when a shrill beeping came from the oven, excusing himself as he left the others to finish Victor's cake.

He left right after he finished cleaning up.

 

* * *

 

The entire apartment smelled like cherry pies and cinnamon that night.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri wasn't sure if he was upset or glad that neither Chris nor Victor didn't show up in the shop the next day, but he didn't really have the time to think about it as he handled order pick ups throughout the day. Against Phichit's well-meant advices, he had decorated a good number of the cakes that were individually picked up, accenting them with some chocolate art and frozen candies that he swore didn't take longer than a minute to make.

However, a particular buyer gained his attention that day.

He must have been not paying enough attention when he was confirming the orders, because he never expected junior model and Rittberger's rising star Yuri Plisetsky to walk- _stomp_ through his doors, dragging actor Georgi Popovich with him.

Who was bawling his eyes out.

"Anya bought her cake here!"

"Zip it, Romeo! It's just a goddamn cake!"

Yuuri tried ignoring the horde of fans outside the shop window. With a petite Russian model glaring dead straight at him, truthfully it wasn't too hard at all.

"I don't know what Victor sees in you."

_Um._

Yuuri stared blankly at the teen, who proceeded to slam a paper on the countertop. It contained a series of number that Yuuri quickly recognized as an order number that belonged to one Feltsman.

"What?" Yuri spat when Yuuri stared at him.

"You seem to be a little too young for a liquor cake."

"No shit?" Yuuri gulped as the glare intensified. "I'm here just to pick it up. Wanted to see what kind of glorious monster managed to make Victor cry, while at it."

"He- what?"

" _Where did I go wrong, Yura? Was I rushing, Yura? He seemed so distraught, Yura, I think he hates me now. Oh Yura this cake is delicious but he couldn't have made it this salty just to spite me!!_ " Yuri grumbled. "To your credit the cake was absolutely divine and it was salty because he cried into it."

"Uh, right."

He passed the number to Yuuko, who peeked out from the kitchen to see what the commotion outside was about.

Then there was silence.

(If the hellhole outside didn't count.)

"Is...is he okay?"

Yuuri looked at Georgi, who was morosely staring at the pastries in the display counter. He was muttering a name as he did so - Anya, Anya,  _why did you leave me Anya-_

"Nyeh, he's fine. Just a bit shook."

Yuuri silently symphatized with Georgi.

"Victor refused to elaborate on  _his_ issue and Swiss Cheese didn't show up the entire day," Yuri said as they waited for the cake. "Seriously, what did you do?"

"It's...it's complicated." Yuuri replied unsurely. "But I didn't expect it to affect him that much."

"Hm. Well, it did, and now he's not going to give me the dancing lessons he promised me because he's _emotionally compromised."_

Yuuri stared.

"...please don't tell me  _you're_ emotionally compromised too."

Their conversation was cut short when Yuuko walked out bringing a large box of cake. She put it open on the counter, displaying the glossy mint green and brown cake for Yuri and Georgi.

"The liquor is heaviest in the frosting, so if you don't handle liquor well just scrap the outer layer."

"Did you put the extra vodka Mila requested?"

"I did."

"You do extra decors at all?"

"It's complementary."

"Good. Can you write ' _disgrace to your cows, fucker_ ' on the cake? In red. Make it angry. Beautiful and angry."

Yuuri didn't ask what the cake was for, or who was it for, but he complied with the request anyway.

 

* * *

 

He texted Chris later that day, asking if Victor was okay. Chris' reply came as an invitation to a bar in downtown.

So Yuuri found himself standing in front of Bar Lambda, wearing a black turtleneck and black pants, covered with a blue jacket that felt a little too thick for the not-quite-cold air of early spring. Chris met him shortly after he arrived, and they made their way inside, into a private room that apparently housed a group of Rittberger models and actors. It didn't take long for Yuuri to feel extremely out of place.

The fact Victor was there, leaning drunkenly on Georgi's shoulder didn't help at all.

"Are they okay?" Yuuri asked when the two men began singing  _What I Did for Love_ off-key, and Chris shook his head. "I guess not."

"You never fell in love with anyone, did you." A young woman with striking red hair came up to him. She extended her hand to Yuuri, smiling welcomingly. "Mila. Junior fashion director to Rittberger and assistant to board director Feltsman."

"Yuuri." Yuuri returned the handshake. "And uh, I did have a girlfriend at some point."

"It didn't work out?"

"Not really." Yuuri mulled over his words a bit. "I just don't really think about love, I guess."

"Figures. Chris did mention you're surprisingly cold for someone who looks so cute."

The two drunk men's voice rose up when they reached the  _burning into flames_ part.

Yuuri scanned the room briefly and noticed a familiar angry cake in the middle of the room, and suddenly he felt bad for complying with Yuri's request. At the very least, the cake was already almost gone, so the only writing left on it was 'disgrace'.

He grimaced.

"Great cake. Very strong kick and great balance between tart and burning. No wonder Vitya really likes it." Mila commented, as she pulled Yuuri to take a seat between her and Chris. Chris' boyfriend was already sitting on Chris' other side, taking photos of the group with a face torn between amusement and disapproval.

"The decoration was especially interesting." Chris said with a grin, to which Yuuri groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"It was a request."

"Just as you can expect from our angry fairy."

" _I HEARD THAT._ "

Laughter exploded around Yuuri, who was still fidgeting as he tried not to be too self-aware. The two heartbroken drunk men had just finished their first verse, and Yuuri blinked when Victor suddenly dropped himself on him, earning Chris' scandalized wolf whistle and Mila's less happy 'hey!'

Their eyes met.

There was a brief silence betweem them as Victor gazed unreadably at Yuuri. Even when Victor's hand suddenly touched Yuuri's cheek, the young man didn't find the urge to push away at all.

" _I'm a fool for your games, but I always play,"_ the song somehow didn't come out too off-key, but Victor was almost whispering. " _Can't admit t'was a waste, it's too much escape,"_

By this point everyone was looking at the two of them.

"Alright lover boy, you're scaring the poor man now," Chris eventually scooped Victor away as he entered the refrain with teary eyes. "Sorry, Yuuri."

"It's fine,"

It wasn't.

His heart was beating like a war drum. Hard, rhythmical, intimidating.

"I...I should leave."

"So soon, Yuuri?" Chris asked. Victor visibly stiffened in Chris' arms.

"Yes," Yuuri smiled. "Thanks for inviting me."

" _Yuuriii._ "

Victor's whine made both Chris and Yuuri look at the crumbling man, and at once Yuuri regretted even looking. Victor's eyes were wide, bright blue, and filled with utter dejection and sadness it was like Yuuri had just kicked a puppy and he was the puppy. He was weakly reaching at Yuuri like an oversized baby on Chris' hold, and as cold as Yuuri was, the sight was so sad he just had to at least take the hand.

"Sorry, Victor."

"Yuuri,  _stammi vicino."_

Yuuri blinked.

" _Stammi vicino. Soutenez-moi. Halte zu mir._ "

"Victor-"

" _離れずにそばにいて!_ "

Yuuri froze.

"Victor, man, you're completely out of it," Chris muttered as he put Victor on the sofa again. "Do you even know what you're saying?" He turned to Yuuri, with an apologetic smile on his face. "Sorry, Yuuri. If you want to leave now you can."

"It's- it's okay. Thanks, Chris. Good night, everyone."

 

* * *

 

 It wasn't okay 

 

* * *

 

The smell that filled the apartment that night was bitter, bitter chocolate. Yuuri made about two dozens dark chocolate eclairs.

He gave them all to the landlady.

 

* * *

 

It wasn't until weeks later that Yuuri and Victor met again in the shop.

"Hello."

"Hi."

Suffice to say, it felt awkward.

"I um," Victor began talking after an eternity of silence. "I just got back from Singapore. Got you some stuff."

"You don't have to," Yuuri said as Victor put a few paper bags on the counter.

"I insist." the older man replied. When Yuuri pulled out the contents of the bags, he found they were bags of roasted coffee beans. "They're Robusta, but very fine and smooth. I feel inclined to share."

"I...I see." Yuuri gazed at the coffee beans bags. "Um, we have a coffee machine at the back. I'll make you a cup?"

"I-" Victor's breathing stopped for a bit. He was going to say no, but.

He sighed. Smiled.

"That would be wonderful."

Yuuri thought the smile was a little sad.

Nonetheless, he decided not to pry and led Victor to the back of the shop, where there was a small resting area with a small dining table, a microwave oven and a compact coffee machine. He gestured for Victor to take a seat as he put some of the beans into the grinder.

"The others aren't here yet?" Victor asked, noticing the lack of company in the shop.

"Minami-kun is delivering a few orders from early morning, and Yuuko is still getting her children to school."

"I see. Phichit?"

"Phichit only helps out when there's a lot of orders, and we've got yesterday's wave pretty much under control so I told him I'm good for the day." Yuuri spooned some of the fragrant ground coffee into the filter and tamped it with a trained precision. "I knew that barista job would turn useful eventually." He said meekly, after he put the coffee machine on extraction mode.

Victor's expression was barely readable as he brought their cups to the table and took a seat across the man. The earthy aroma of the robusta wafted through the air, mixing with the scent of freshly baked pastries and sugar that stuck on Yuuri.

"I came here to apologize." Victor said, not looking at Yuuri. His eyes were fixated at the window, from which they could see the small garden where Yuuri grew a variety of kitchen herbs and some perennial plants. "I..."

"Was it Chris?"

"Sorry?"

Victor turned to Yuuri, who was looking at him with a somewhat tired look.

"Was it Chris who asked you to apologize?"

"I-no. No, Chris had nothing to do with this."

"Then - Yuri?"

"Why would Yura even-no. No!  _I_ want to apologize."

Yuuri stared at the window and shakily sipped his coffee. "You don't need to apologize, though. You haven't done anything wrong."

"I thought about this for a long while, you know."

"Me too."

There was silence. Victor still didn't touch his coffee.

"Why me?"

The answer didn't come quick enough, but coffee made Yuuri a patient man. It was good coffee.

 

* * *

 

"Can I order a cherry pie?"

"Now?"

"If you don't mind."

 

There was a delay.

 

"Sure."

 

* * *

 

It was subtle, but there was a small smile forming on Yuuri's face as they left the coffee room.

 

* * *

 

Somehow, when he made a Devil's Food Cake for Victor the following week, it came out like his mother's. It became a staple of Yutopia Cakes and Pastries.

He added coffee into the mix.

 

("And love." Victor said.)

("And love." He agreed.)

 

* * *

 

 

"You know, you  _still_ haven't told us how you ended up together after you know what."

Yuuri and Victor looked at each other, and Phichit almost snorted his ice cream out from his nose as the two just ended up staring a little bit too long for anyone's comfort. "Look at you two lovebirds. You're both behaving like Chris in his honeymoon phase." He commented, earning himself a scowl from Yuri, who was trying not to get too busy with his tiger-shaped  _kakigori_.

" _Like_? I can safely tell you that they're impressively  _worse_ than Swiss Cheese," a bit of stray shaved ice flew all over the air as Yuri waved his spoon at the couple. "I thought Swiss was  _horrible_ back then but these two are making him pale in comparison!"

His ice flew into the face of a passing old lady and the other three occupants of the table merely watched as the young model received an earful from the lady.

" _Ugh_." The teenager groaned as he finally sat back on his seat. Victor was still grinning in amusement as Yuuri asked sympathetically if Yuri was okay. The boy shook his head and grumpily ate his ice.

"Hey _pig_ ," He spoke up again a moment later. "Remember how I told you I don't know what Victor saw in you, like, months ago?"

Victor's eyes widened. He hadn't heard about this.

But Yuuri nodded, carefully watching as Yuri glared at both him and Victor.

"I'm changing my question. I don't know what  _you_ see in Victor."

Phichit bursted laughing the same time Victor's spoon fell. Yuuri was a little more graceful, covering his mouth as he stiffled a laugh.

"He's fine," Yuuri said. "I mean, he can be a total ass sometimes-" Phichit's laughter turned louder. "-but he's okay. He's...good. He's  _Victor_."

"Oh my god." Yuri threw his spoon into his half-eaten shaved ice. Yuuri and Victor had that _the-world-is-ours_ look in their eyes as they gazed into each other's. "That's it, you two are officially disgusting."

" _How_ did you guys end up together, again?"

 

* * *

 

 

They never did explain how they got to where they were.

It wasn't something they could put into working logic, they said, and Chris said it's okay.

"But you know that this thing between you two," he gestured wildly with his fingers, unable to find a representative word. "It's real, yeah? LIke,  _real_ real?"

 

 

"Yeah. Definitely  _real_."

 

 

Yuri is so fucking done with them.


	2. Death strikes like a wave of saccharine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> White day, but not in March.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This suddenly turned a bit too self-indulgent halfway through and till the end I'm sorry.
> 
> Anyway, I'm looking at you who actually ended up subscribing to this fic because I don't know how you did it but you've managed to predict a second chapter coming LMAO. 
> 
> This chapter is a continuation from the last chapter, with hmmmmm almost an entire year time difference between where this chapter starts and where the last one ended, and frankly at this point I'm not even sure if we're still in February or if we've somehow nailed it at March....or not. I know Europain 2018 is supposed to happen in early February though, and that pretty much shits up my entire timeline if I try to dutifully follow it, so I've decided to just screw it and go with the wind HAHAHA this is no longer a white day fic in content, but it is in spirit so please enjoy

"I wonder what Yuuri's kinks are."

Christophe almost dropped his cup and Yuri spurted his yuzu pekoe at Victor's general direction.

"Look, Victor, I know you're having this thing - this  _massive_ thing, at the moment-" Chris gently put his cup on the tabletop, fearing that he'll spill his five-dollars cuppa if he held on to it. Yuri, meanwhile, could only gape at the adults™ with a scandalized face. "But are you sure that's a proper question to be asked over coffee?"

It was only eleven, but even during peak hours Cafe Petrichor tend to only attract a handful of people, making it perfect for one cosmetician and two not-quite-low-profile models to hang out and spend a day out...or most days, on that matter. Victor had taken a liking to the cafe's humblingly delicious, faithful rendition of Cafe de Olla, and the only thing holding him back from featuring the small Kazakh-owned cafe in Stammi Vicino was the looming threat of losing the quaint, quiet little paradise to the crowd.

Like what happened to the Yutopia patisserie in the weeks and  _months_ following his blog post.

Chris sighed when Victor's only response to his question is a blank stare and him idly stirring his cafe de olla unnecessarily. "Look, I know you miss seeing your boy and all, but it's kind of your own fault he ends up being spirited away back to Paris for Miss B's fashion week gala.  _You_ were the one who tagged her on that cherry pie post, after all."

"I  _knoooooow_." Victor actually legit whined, and Yuri kindly shifted Victor's coffee cup away as the man slumped on the table like the cuddle-deprived man he was in the last seven days. "I also know that Yuuri was especially  _excited_ because the timing coincides with the year's Europain, so that's all the more reason to let him take the flight, and I'm genuinely happy for him to be able to attend the exhibition after literal  _years_ of wishing he could come again."

"But you miss him."

"But I miss him."

"Couldn't you just, ugh, I dunno, go with him or something? That would save us your horrible whining."

Victor turned his face just enough so his eyes met Yuri's, and the young model swore he could pinpoint exactly when the man's heart broke into 144 pieces. "In case you forgot, Yura, I did want to accompany him but Yakov said no."

Of course he did, Yuri thought as he sipped what remained of his yuzu tea, watching as Victor lapsed back into a dejected manbaby on the table while Chris tried to coo the man out of his manpression. The scene playing out in front of him was nothing short of hilarious, but Yuri Plisetsky doesn't do slice of life humour, so he just sat back and scowled-glared at the few curious heads from the other tables.

"You guys need more snacks or drinks?"

He looked up.

"Beka," there was an almost tired smile that replaced his scowl almost instantly when his eyes met the cafe owner's son's. He was a few years older than Yuri, but they had somehow got along very quickly since Yuri started coming to visit the patisserie with Victor and Chris during their off days - they bonded even quicker after hitting it off over Petrichor's pastry selection, which were supplied by, _surprise_ , the Yutopia patisserie. "I'll have another cup of pekoe, and I'm guessing Victor will ask for a liquor shot in a few moments." Yuri paused for a moment, his eyebrows scrunching together as if he was thinking hard about something. "Actually, don't give Victor booze. Just get him a double espresso or something equally bitter to jolt him up."

Otabek nodded and immediately walked to the bar, conversing for a moment with the girl Yuri recognized as his sister before he returned to Yuri's table. "Nikiforov looks very wrung out." He said, as he dragged a chair from an unoccupied table and sat next to Yuri. "Katsuki's absence really hits him hard, doesn't it."

"Like you wouldn't know." Yuri muttered. "He still does his job really well, but once the cameras turn away all he can talk about is Yuuri this, Yuratchka that, Zolotse this, it's bloody sickening."

"That's a man in love for you, kiddo." Chris grinned, and laughed when Yuri's response to his interruption was a middle finger flip. "Is your father doing well, Altin?"

"Quite so, sir, although we're still not allowing him to go near the drinks for the time."

"Good call. Contrary to popular belief, liquor doesn't actually do recovering men very well." All three pairs of eyes rolled to the still sulking figure on one side of the table. "Especially for ones like that one," Chris added with a grimace, to which Otabek merely nodded in a silent dutiful sympathy.

"Well, according to his staff, he will be returning in two days, so please stay alive until then, Mr. Nikiforov."

The news must have been new to Victor's ears, because he reacted so badly he actually crashed the entire table.

 

* * *

 

 

_( But first, let us step back in time for a moment. )_

 

 

* * *

 

 

Victor woke up with his phone ringing endlessly, and when he finally picked it up, it was Yuuri's voice that greeted him.

Or rather,  _screeched_ at him.

"Yuuri? Is everything okay?"

His question was genuinely out of concern, but there was also a slight smile in his still tired face because he had a guess on what made Yuuri so jumpy in the morning.

_"Is everything okay? IS EVERYTHING OKAY? Victor Nikiforov what have you done!?"_

His answer came out as an overly-relaxed laugh, as he put Yuuri on the loudspeaker and navigated to his blog application. Under the banner, was his newest entry that he had just posted a little after midnight a few hours ago. He had contemplated between titling the particular entry  _Detroit's Hidden Gem: Katsuki Yuuri_ or  _I'd love to sing a few praises to the man who have given me a brand new life_ , but he had finally opted for the former just because Yuri threatened to choke him in his sleep if he even thought of turning  _Stammi Vicino_ into a "bloody sappy poetry blog". Clearly the young man didn't understand  _his_ aesthetics, but after asking Chris for his opinion, Victor realized that Yuuri probably wouldn't appreciate the gesture much, given the man's inherent aversion to public declarations of affection.

_(If only he knew.)_

But anyway.

"Well, I simply decided that I haven't spoke enough about the Yutopia in the past week..."

 _"Victor,_ " Yuuri's voice sounded breathy from the other side and Victor couldn't decide if it was cute or hot.  _"You write about Yutopia on a weekly basis._ "

"I know! That's why I decided to write about  _you_ instead!"

The sound of facepalming amazingly went through the call.

 _"I don't know how they did it but I've had like a dozen messages on my personal number asking if I'm single_ _, and don't even talk to me about calls I'm too afraid to pick up. Please tell me you didn't actually share my number to anyone?_ "

"Of course not, Yuuri," There  _was_ a pang of regret and guilt that suddenly formed in Victor's chest, and a slightly more prickly feeling that he recognized as annoyance. He wasn't sure if it was the idea of Yuuri even thinking that he would do such horrible thing, or the idea that there were people trying to hit on _his_ Yuuri. He cleared his throat a bit and sat a little straighter on his bed. "But given that you haven't changed your phone number for ages, they probably scoured your social media and stuff and found it...maybe? Comes with the fame, you know. I know it happened to me a few times until Yakov got me a new number..."

There was a brief silence, before the call suddenly ended.

Victor stared at his pristine white wall for almost five minutes.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri eventually called again, after an excruciating hour in which Victor  _almost_ made Yuri personally haul the patissier's ass to Victor's place just from hearing Victor's incessant whining ( _"Yuri I think I did a mistake, a big fucking mistake, a mistake that is probably worth a life sentence in jail" "DO YOU THINK HE HATES ME NOW" "YURA CAN YOU LIKE, UNDO A BLOG POST AND THE AFTERMATH OF SAID POST?" "YURA I THINK YUURI HATES ME NOW WHY AM I SUCH A PATHETIC BEING"_ )

" _Frankly speaking I'm still a little annoyed at you."_ Victor held his breath and tears as he tried not to yell an entire novella of apologies to Yuuri. " _But I'd like to thank you too_."

"Eh?"

Victor blinked a few times, and after the surprise passed he finally could hear the smile and giddiness that permeated Yuuri's every words.

"Yuuri...?"

 _Is it safe to assume that you're not angry at me anymore?_ He thought, but for some reason he couldn't bear to say the words, and instead, he waited. Waited as he heard a soft, held-back chuckle from the other side of the call.

 

 

_"Victor, I'm going to Paris!"_

 

 

Victor stared at his pristine white wall for another five minutes.

 

* * *

 

 

The story went like this.

 

Yuuri  _was_ angry with Victor. Not the kind of a relationship-breaking fight, but the annoyance was definitely there. Victor was right - the blurring lines between personal life and public life came from fame, but wasn't it Victor who turned Yuuri into some sort of four-weeks internet phenomenon out of the goddamn blue!? Yuuri (supposedly) knew not to expect much from someone who was on a pedestal as high as Victor Hella Nikiforov's, but he still couldn't help but  _want_ at least a small apology, not some 'suck it up and deal with it' that he felt Victor threw at him in the call.

"You look annoyed." Phichit commented when he walked out from his room for morning coffee. "Like,  _I want to murder someone_ annoyed. Did anything happen?"

"Victor happened."

" _Ah_." There was an understanding note in Phichit's response, which was then followed with concern and confusion. "Wait, Victor? What happened? This wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that last entry on SV, right?"

Yuuri's lack of verbal answer told Phichit the answer.

"Well, Chris told him to tone the love-sickness down out of it, but I guess it still felt like some kind of ultra sappy open love letter, so I'm with you, pal." He gave his older, sulking friend a solid smack on the back before he pushed a mug filled with steaming coffee. Black with no sugar."This ain't Petrichor's five-dollars cup but I hope it suffices to heal your mood this morning."

The mention of Petrichor and five dollars distracted Yuuri from his 'Victor is annoying' session.

"Five dollars?"

"That's what a standard espresso in Petrichor costs, right?"

"I...I didn't know."

Phichit raised an eyebrow as he sipped his own cooled down coffee. "You go to Petrichor so much lately I thought you'd know," He said, as he added another spoonful of sugar into his mug. "How do you even not know the price of your favourite cup of coffee there?"

"Victor usually paid before I even get to ask for a price," Yuuri admitted. There was a slight blush forming in his face, which he tried to hide by bringing his mug up to his face. The smell of freshly-extracted coffee soothed him slightly, as he let the steam fog his glasses. "I honestly thought it cost only three dollars. His only complaint when I force him to accept the repayment was that I didn't need to pay him back at all..."

"Of course he wouldn't let you pay him, you two being these two impossibly in love dorks all the time and all." Phichit grinned as Yuuri coughed out his coffee. "Also, you know, he  _does_ get a lot of money from his job. Sometimes I even wonder how he and Yuri get to visit the shop so much, honestly. He  _is_ quite in-demand, from what I know."

"He is, and he  _doesn't_ ," Yuuri muttered before he slowly sipped the still piping hot coffee. He put the mug down carefully, then. "Doesn't get to visit  _that_ much actually, that is. Apparently he can get quite convincing sometimes, so the director tend to just let him do his own things when he  _really_ wants to. The fact that he usually gets his shots greenlighted on the first takes helps with that too, I guess - but he's actually quite busy."

"And you know all that from the man himself?"

Yuuri shook his head. "Yuri tends to ramble when he's excited."

" _Ah._ "

Yuuri was about to take the last chug out of his mug when his phone suddenly rang again. He groaned, and Phichit chuckled. "Victor?"

"About damn time he called, I hope he's going to actually say something nice this time-wait, no, it's not Victor." Yuuri squinted at his phone screen, on which was a number that started with +33.  _France_. "It's from France. Victor can't be in France right now, right?"

"Even if he is, why wouldn't he use his own phone? I mean, you just called his usual phone, right?"

The call died without Yuuri picking it up thanks to his hesitance, but it didn't take long until the same number flashed on his phone again, and this time Yuuri lividly swiped the button to green.

" _B-bonjour_?" Yuuri automatically opened in French, wincing at how ugly his rusty French came out after years out of use.

" _Bonjour_ , Yuuri." A woman's voice smoothly replied. Aged, strong, and smooth. " _Ca fait quelque temps."_

" _C...C’est de la part de qui ?"_   

 

 

" _C’est Lilia, Yuuri. Baranovskaya, Lilia?"_

 

* * *

 

 

 _"She told me one of her students follow your blog religiously, and when she saw me on your recent entry she quickly linked the entry to madam Baranovskaya, having recognized me from a photo in her office._ " Yuuri continued his story excitedly, not realizing that Victor had gone silent from staring at the wall for too long. " _I'm really not sure why she kept that really really old photo, but she told me she wanted to bring me to the Europain as a belated thank-you for the cooking demo I did for her a few years back. She also wanted me to host another demo for her fashion week gala, as well as captain the pastry and desserts team responsible for the night's dishes._ "

Yuuri was almost breathless by the time he paused his story. " _Victor_ ," he called out, snapping the older man from his stare-off with the wall.  _"Are you still there?"_

"Y-yes, of course!" His answer came out a little bit hurried, but Yuuri didn't seem to notice, as he continued talking.

" _Um, yeah, so, basically, I'm going to be off to Paris for like a week and a few days, I think, since Europain is a week after the fashion week._ "

"That's...that's good." Victor felt a bitter note on his tongue. "Are you excited for it, Yuuri?"

" _Yes! I've always always always wanted to attend the Europain, but I never got the actual chance to so this will be my first time!"_ the sheer happiness that radiated from even Yuuri's voice made Victor melt inside, but at the same time it also made his stomach churn, because an entire week of no Yuuri to bury his weary self into at the end of the day  _and_ at the beginning of the day? Bloody unthinkable! Until now. " _I hear there will be presentations made by equipment manufacturers, so maybe I'll be able to get something for the shop while at it, but I'm especially looking forward to the technical demo series!"_

Yuuri continued rambling about some things that Victor's muddled brain could barely pick up, and Victor instead thought of an entirely different thing.

"Yuuri," he carefully interrupted just as Yuuri paused for a breath. "Do you have to be an active member of the industry to attend Europain?"

There was a very brief silence from Yuuri's side, which was then followed by a strangely expectant 'no'. 

 _"_ _Not really. They charge entry tickets, but you do get discounts if you are affiliated with companies, which I'll apparently be getting via Madam Baranovskaya's link."_ There was a slightly longer pause, followed by an audible intake of breath. " _Victor, are...are you thinking of coming with me_?"

 

* * *

 

 

It didn't came as surprising when Yakov said no, though.

 

* * *

 

 

_"It's the Paris Fashion Week! Can't we come to cover the catwalk? I mean, we're RITTBERGER, damnit!"_

_"Victor we're a modelling company, not a fashion journalist group."_

 

* * *

 

 

"It feels like it's been  _years_ since I dropped him at the airport and I'm a desperate man, okay? Pity me a bit!"

"Don't you call each other every night?" Yuri dryly commented as he stabbed his  _millefeuile_ with the fancy wooden fork that Petrichor provided. He followed the comment with a sharp glare towards Victor. "I'd  _highly_ appreciate it if you stop putting your embarrassing shit on loudspeaker, by the way. You two get so loud I can hear you from next door back at Westin two days ago."

"Embarrassing...shit?" Whatever matter Yuri was bringing up, it definitely piqued Chris' interest, and it had made Victor blush an incredible red on his pale ceramic skin. "This sounds like absolute dirt, Nikiforov.  _Spill_."

"It's...it's private."

"I can guess, you know, and you don't want me  _guessing_."

Even the straight-laced, straight-faced Otabek was genuinely interested now, him leaning a little forward from where he was sitting next to Yuri. Yuri still refused to look at Victor's general direction, but the intense stare from Chris and Otabek made Victor felt like shrinking smaller and smaller the longer they watched him, waiting.

"I...I may have exchanged a few risque dialogues with Yuuri on the phone...?"

"A few risque dialogues, my ass." Yuri grumbled under his breath. His stabbing on his poor millefeuile grew more rapid, but still controlled. He didn't want to destroy the delicious cake. "You put pornhub to shame, and I've seen some weird  _shit_ on pornhub."

He ignored the judging stare from the three men around him and the table behind them.

"...alright, I may have exchanged a little more than a few risque dialogues with Yuuri on the phone."

" _Oh_ come on, Victor, my man! You specifically wondered out loud about Yuuri Katsuki's fucking  _kink_ earlier and  _now_ you're trying to crawl your way out of this? Hell fucking no, pretty boy."

The woman on the table behind theirs visibly shifted on her seat.

Chris nudged his chair closer to Victor's, allowing himself to loom a bit over the seemingly guilt-and-nerve-struck man with a gleeful, devilish grin on his face. "I want to hear everything,  _mon ami_ , and I know exactly someone who would be able to force the details out of your  _darling_ if you wouldn't, so you better spill now or  _else_."

Victor legit trembled.

 

* * *

 

"Victor! Yuri, Chris!"

When he finally found Yuuri's charming, soothing voice landing on his earlobes he couldn't help but half-jumped on the young man, engulfing him in an almost desperate hug that was quickly returned with an equally desperate hug.

"Yuuri, I miss you so much!" His voice was muffled by Yuuri's hair as he buried his face in his hair, but he ignored the itch in his nose in lieu of the fragrant cinnamon that clung on Yuuri's hair. Even after ten days far from home Yuuri still smelled like freshly baked pastries and sugars, and oh, oh how much he had been craving for this exact smell.

Yuuri laughed shyly, almost nervously at Victor's unabashedly public display of affection, but he (surprisingly) didn't try to push Victor away at all. "I know," he said in a low murmur. "I miss you too. 'Wish you could've come along, there were so many good things to try in Paris, you probably could fill Stammi Vicino's monthly post quota in a single day."

"Mmm, you know how things went with Yakov," Victor made a mock-pout, at which Yuuri chuckled before he gave Victor a brief pat on the cheek. "'twas hard, you know. Waiting. Being patient. _Being good_."

"You did an admirable job, Victor. Well done."

"Oi, not forgetting us here, are we?"

Yuuri and Victor finally separated after Yuri half-yelled at them. "Seriously, at least try to not look so disgustingly married in front of an entire international audience?" The young model's comment made Victor laugh, and Yuuri's smile was a heroic attempt on holding back a loud laugh.

"Sorry, it really feels like it's been a while since we're this close, isn't that right, Yuuri?"

"Mm. I can't believe I'm admitting this out loud but I really miss getting to actually touch you...hm?"

Yuuri turned to Chris and Yuri, who had suddenly gone silent. Chris was watching them with a strangely pensive look, while Yuri was still glaring them with an intensity that Yuuri hadn't seen since he told Yuri Yutopia delivers pastries to Petrichor and that he personally knew the family who ran the small cafe.

"Is...everything okay, Yuri?"

The blond seemed to jump in his skin when Yuuri called his name, and for reasons unknown to Yuuri, there was a bright red flush on his face.

"N-nothing - I MEAN, YEAH? Why would there be anything wrong?"

"You look very flushed. Are you sick?"

"Just...shut the fuck up?"

Yuuri stared in confusion as Yuri stomped away dragging one of his luggage bag. He didn't understand why Chris gave him the pat on his back, and he couldn't even begin to ask why Victor suddenly looked five years older as he watched at Yuri and Chris go.

 

* * *

 

 

Victor stayed for a while after he drove Yuuri back to his apartment. He watched with immense awe as Yuuri worked his magic on his lousy oven and created no less than three different cakes in the time span of two hours.

Unsurprisingly, it was the Devil's Food Cake that Victor took home with him. Yuuri and Phichit kept the pavlova for themselves.

The landlady got an Opera.

 

 

* * *

 

 

"I didn't get to ask this yesterday, but...how was fashion week?"

Yuuri gently, carefully put the apple lemon kites into the box, and passed it to the school girls who paid in spare changes. It was amazing how many coins can these students keep in their pockets, he mused, before he turned to Victor, whose presence in the shop had been considered a very normal thing for a while.

"Well," Yuuri said, with a slight huff. "The gala was nice, I guess. Most people weren't entirely interested in the finer art of pastry art - they considered the demo session an entertainment, above all, though I suppose it was understandable."

"You sounded a little disappointed."

"Irked is probably a better word," Yuuri muttered, and Victor, for the umpteenth time maybe, realized that Yuuri had been rather more vocal about his opinions lately. "Someone in the gala was very rude. Called me out for being a man doing the wife job and stuff."

A gasp.

" _Rude._ "

" _I know, right!_ I couldn't exactly stay silent after that comment, so I kind of, sort of snapped back..."

 _Oh?_ Victor leaned onto the counter, towards Yuuri, who had this gleeful, somewhat proud smile beaming on his face. "Oho, I'd like to hear about this. So what did you say to the poor man?"

"I asked him if he'd like me to become his wife, because he seemed like he'd need a good one to sort out his ugly life decisions and disastrous fashion sense."

Victor snorted.

"Not a very good retort in a fashion week crowd."

"One of the guest designers came up to me and gave me a hug afterwards, so I probably did a good job."

This time Victor actually laughed. Yuuri grinned.

"But yeah, I found the gala to be a little...underwhelming? Overwhelming? I don't know. I appreciate madam Baranovskaya's invitation and willingness to let me get involved, but it just didn't click much, as a whole." Yuuri sighed as he moved to put a new batch of tartes into the display counter. "It was probably more your thing, honestly - there were so many designers there, you're bound to get a job or two at least. I mean,  _I_ got a modelling offer."

"You did?"

"Yeah. Lanvin's shoes department. Said they liked how my thighs look, though how they managed to determine that even though I was wearing a loose-fit dress pants remained a mystery even until now."

"I don't know, Yuuri, your thighs  _are_ rather amazing, I doubt even loose-fits are loose enough to hide them completely from the outside world."

Yuuri visibly blushed. Victor laughed again.

"Still, you know how my talk with Yakov ended this time round, but I admit I wasn't...strategically prepared. I'll see if I can convince him to let me fly over to Europe next year. For both the fashion week and Europain, I mean." There was a sparkle in Yuuri's eyes that made Victor's heart flutter when he looked at them, and it made his smile spread a little bit wider. "Ah, speaking of Europain..."

"Europain was amazing!" Yuuri didn't even wait for Victor to carry out his question. "There was so much interesting thing happening in the exhibition...so much new technology happening in a single place, it was almost ridiculous! I even signed and bought some machines..." he sighed, and half-pouted at Victor. "We'll be getting a new cooling unit in a month, and I think Rialta will be sending their test oven unit in two, and I'm actually quite positive we'll end up keeping both units. They'll immensely help with the custom orders department, especially."

"And that's a bad thing?" Victor's smile didn't falter. Yuuri puffed his cheeks and poked Victor with the tongs he just used to put the last tarte into the displays, before he threw said tongs into a canister filled with water.

"It _is_  a certain  _someone's_ fault we end up being neck-deep in those kind of orders. The murder cake order  _still_ comes in, you know."

" _How_ do you make the murder cake, anyway?" Victor asked, curiousity glinting in his eyes. When Yuuri looked at him straight in the eye, Victor could see it clear as day in Yuuri's rust-red eyes.

"I can show you, if you want to."

 _Taunt accepted_.

 

* * *

 

 

Victor went back to Rittberger after having lunch together with Yuuri, and visited Yutopia again just when the last customer left the shop. When he entered, he noticed that the displays were already cleared out, and Yuuri was the last person left in the store, aside from Victor himself.

"Quick day today?" He asked, as he followed Yuuri back into the kitchen.

Yuuri shrugged. "Yes and no, I suppose. Yuu-chan needed to pick her children up early today, so she signed off around four, I think. Minami-kun said he'll be heading straight home after making the last delivery, so I told him to sign off just before departing."

"I see," Victor said. He watched Yuuri, who was still wearing an apron over a tucked dark brown shirt and a pair of well-fitted deep navy jeans that graciously flaunted the noticeable arc of his butt.

 

_Oh dear._

 

"Yuuri," he called out, grabbing the man's attention. "You weren't wearing this coordinate earlier today, were you?"

"Ah, you noticed," Yuuri grimaced. "There was an accident that involved flour, wasabi and custard earlier today, so I had to change out into something. I asked Phichit to pick something for me before he took off to uni, and he got me these so here I am."

 

(Victor secretly prayed to SNS deities for the existence of Phichit Chulanont.)

 

"It looks very good on you." Victor said, realizing that his voice sounded a little bit raspy.

"Thanks." Yuuri smiled with a slight flush on his face. He was embarrassed, but Victor wasn't completely sure if it was for the  _right_ reasons. "Oh, right, didn't you say you want to watch how our infamous  _murder cake_ is made?"

"I did..." Victor's words lingered in the air as his eyes traveled all over Yuuri's figure. He suddenly realized the dryness in his throat, and the slight pulsing on his neck, his chest. He'd like to blame it on the kitchen's slightly colder than the front desk temperature and-or the deep brown shirt that clung almost stubbornly on Yuuri's body, and-or the jeans that followed Yuuri's body shape all around  _just_ the right places.

He felt a little hungry for something else, all of sudden.

Yuuri yelped when Victor suddenly hugged him from behind, just when he was about to look for a small round pan for the green liquor cake.

"Victor-?"

"お腹空いた. Hungry."

Yuuri blinked, and then snorted a laugh. "Really, Victor? Do you want to go eat dinner together after this?"

The answer came in the form of Victor suddenly turning him around, forcing Yuuri to look at Victor as he was pushed onto the solid surface countertop of the vast, almost empty kitchen.

 

* * *

 

 

 

_"Not quite **that** kind of hungry, actually." _

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

"I told him  _not in the shop kitchen_ but can you believe the audacity of the asshole? He ignored me and just-"

" _Please_ tell me you didn't actually end up coming in the shop kitchen, _on_ the counter because  _um_."

Yuuri shook his head, and both Phichit and Chris sighed in relief. " _Of course not_ , like hell I'm going to let him do that."

"...I don't know, Yuuri," Phichit said, as he played with the hamster-shaped spoon that decorated his coffee float. "From the few years I've known you, I can safely confirm that you  _do_ have some strange kinks underneath that model good boy cover of yours."

As Yuuri spurted his espresso, Chris suddenly remembered about Victor's question from an entire week ago. "Interesting, Yuuri," he said, just after Phichit managed to make Yuuri stop exploding in shame. "Actually,  _someone's_ been wondering about that exact thing." he said, with an amused smile as he saw the confusion, then surprise, then  _understanding_ that formed in Yuuri's face within the span of a single minute. "Kinks.  _Kinky_ , innit?"

Yuuri covered his face with his hands as Phichit excitedly shot up a hand. "Look, man, Yuuri may look like a cute innocent cinnamon roll, but let me tell you that this boy is lowkey  _kinky as fuck_ , okay."

"Phichit!"

"Well, he  _is_ Japanese - that's where all the weirder stuffs come from, right?"

"Eh, I don't really take nationality into the equation, honestly. Besides, it still doesn't change the fact that our sinnamon roll here is secretly a raging DO-S, I tell you."

 _"PHICHIT!_ "

"Also he actually has an exhibitionist streak, just saying."

" _LIES!_ "

Phichit laughed as he deftly avoided Yuuri's attempt on strangling his dirt-digging room mate. Meanwhile, Chris seemed to be contemplating pensively, his eyes cast down, his finger rubbing the thin spread of stubble on his jaw.

"Well, Victor is secretly a raging M so I guess it all works out in the end?"

_"WHY ARE WE HAVING THIS TALK AGAIN?"_

"Well, you were the one who talked about Victor eating you out in the shop kitchen-"

 

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri paid fifty-five dollars for his espresso and for Phichit's silence.

The legitimacy of all the claims made in Petrichor that day remained a mystery for a long, long time.

**Author's Note:**

> [Recipe used and loosely followed. It tastes heavenly and I added double cream to the cake mix.](http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/devils-food-layer-cake.html)


End file.
